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Dancing My Feelings

Kindergartners learn that dance can show feelings — happy bouncy jumps, sad droopy moves, silly wobbly wiggles — connecting emotions to movement.

KindergartenExpression25 minutes1 class periodArtistic ProcessExplicit teaching4 StandardsNCAS
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Show feelings with dance.
  • ✓Match feelings to moves.
  • ✓Dance happy & sad.
  • ✓Express myself.
Essential Question

Did you know you can dance your feelings? Happy is bouncy, sad is droopy! How would you dance each feeling?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Match It · Interactive

Match the Feeling to the Dance

Project this and match each feeling to how you’d dance it — tap a feeling, then tap the move.

💃 Match each feeling to its danceTry it
Feeling
How You Dance It
Now tap the move!
The Lesson · Artistic Process (Warm-Up · Explore · Create · Perform · Reflect)

25 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Warm-Up — Dance Your Feelings

3 min

You can dance your feelings — happy is bouncy, sad is droopy!

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Dance a feeling.
  • Ask what it shows.
  • Warm up.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Watch.
  • Guess.
  • Warm up.
2

Explore — Dancing Feelings

7 min

Children explore.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send children to Match the Feeling to the Dance.
  • Match each one.
  • Try them.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Match.
  • Try them.
  • Name.
3

Create — Create

7 min

Children create.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Dance happy.
  • Dance sad.
  • Dance silly.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Happy!
  • Sad.
  • Silly!
4

Perform — Perform

5 min

Children perform.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Dance a feeling for others to guess.
  • Show it big.
  • Be kind.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Dance it.
  • Show it.
  • Be kind.
5

Reflect — Reflect

3 min

Children respond.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a feeling.
  • Show its dance.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name one.
  • Show it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the National Core Arts Standards (Dance).

NCAS
DA:Cr1.1.K

Show feelings through movement.

NCAS
DA:Re7.1.K

Notice feelings in dance.

NCAS
DA:Cn10.1.K

Connect dance to feelings.

NCAS
DA:Pr4.1.K

Move expressively.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Feeling + move cards.
  • Sentence frame: “Happy dancing is ___.”
  • Dance together.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with happy and sad.
  • Show big moves.
  • Match one pair.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Add more feelings.
  • Make a feeling dance.
  • Guess a feeling dance.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🎵Music
  • 💻Match the Feeling to the Dance
  • 👟Space to move
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

feelinghow you feelhappya glad feelingsadnot happyexcitedfull of energysleepytiredsillyfunnydanceto move to musicexpressto show how you feel
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
How would you dance HAPPY?
With bouncy, bright jumps.
QUESTION 2
How would you dance SAD?
With slow, droopy movements.
QUESTION 3
How would you dance SILLY?
With wobbly, funny moves.

Reflect: dance a feeling.

Have children dance a happy feeling and a sad feeling for a family member to guess. A printable feelings sheet is in the Arts library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Dancing My FeelingsFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Dancing My FeelingsQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
0%

Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Dancing My FeelingsPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: dance, excited, express, feeling, happy, sad, silly, sleepy
  1. to show how you feel
  2. full of energy
  3. to move to music
  4. a glad feeling
  5. how you feel
  6. funny
  7. not happy
  8. tired

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. How would you dance HAPPY?
  2. How would you dance SAD?
  3. How would you dance SILLY?
Answer key — Part A: 1) express · 2) excited · 3) dance · 4) happy · 5) feeling · 6) silly · 7) sad · 8) sleepy
Part B: 1) With bouncy, bright jumps. 2) With slow, droopy movements. 3) With wobbly, funny moves.